Always Be
by Lauren Eliza
Summary: It's always going to be there, isn't it? You and me?" Even when they're miles apart, Lucas can't let Peyton go. She doesn't want to let him. It will always be Lucas and Peyton, because it always has been. Picks up after Season Four. LEYTON.
1. Part One

**Author's Note:** A short three parter that came to me quite suddenly. Everything from S1 to S4 counts, this picks up near the end of the summer after graduation. This part is mostly Lucas' perspective, the next will be Peyton's, and the third will be both. Everything else should be obvious, I hope you enjoy it and leave me a review!

Part One: The Freshmen

_When I was young I knew everything_

_She a punk who rarely ever took advice_

It had been nearly two months since he had seen her. Almost sixty days, and it seemed like a lifetime. She was supposed to be coming back in a week, and to say that Lucas was thrilled was the understatement of the year. After their last summer together, he could hardly imagine that time of year without her, but he had survived it so far, knowing that she would be home soon. His phone rang, and he smiled at the way she always called when he was thinking about her. More likely he was just always thinking of her.

"Hey," he said. "I was just thinking about you."

"Lucas," she said, and he could hear the tears in her voice.

"Peyton, what's wrong?" he asked worriedly. "What happened?"

"Remember when you told me I was destined for greatness?" she said.

"Of course," he replied, somewhat confused by her reply.

"They offered me a job," she said. "Full time, starting next week. Marketing assistant. They like my artsy spin, they said."

"You're supposed to be home in a week," he said.

"I know," she answered.

"I'm sorry," he said belatedly. "That's amazing news. You deserve it, Peyton, you've worked so hard for this."

"I know," she said quietly. "I accepted it right before I called."

"You already accepted it?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes," she said. "You're the first person I told."

"You couldn't have talked to me about it first?" he shouted.

"It was my choice to make!" she said angrily. "What happened to you saying I was going to achieve greatness?"

"L.A happened!" he said. "God, Peyton, hasn't this summer been hard on you?"

"How dare you," she whispered. "This summer has been hell. But it's also been extremely important and I've learned a lot. And still have a lot to learn. So when you learn to accept that that I won't be back, you let me know."

Lucas stared at his phone for several moments. He couldn't remember a time when she had ever hung up on him. He should have handled things better, he knew that, but he couldn't bear the thought of not being with her. They were supposed to be everything, they were supposed to have everything together. Now he had nothing.

_Now I'm guilt-stricken sobbing_

_With my head on the floor_

He didn't call her for a week. He spent it pretending that she was coming home, that everything was exactly the way it was supposed to be. But on the night before she was going to start her full time job, the night before she should have been leaving to come home to him, he couldn't take it any longer. He called her.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," he said. "I just wanted to wish you good luck tomorrow."

"Thank you," she said.

"Are you excited to start?" he inquired.

"A little bit nervous, but definitely excited," she said, not knowing how much those words hurt him.

"I'm sorry I didn't talk to you before," she said. "I didn't think about how much it would hurt you."

Of course she knew how he was feeling. She always knew. She read him better than anyone else.

"It's okay," he replied.

"So where do we go from here?" she asked.

"You go to your job," he said. "I go to college."

"I know that," she said. "But what about us? You and me?"

"I don't think there can be an us anymore, Peyton," he replied.

"That's why you called," she said softly.

Sometimes he wished she couldn't read him so well.

"I'm sorry," he said, equally softly.

"Goodbye, Lucas," she said.

"Goodbye, Peyton," he replied.

After she hung up, he kept his phone beside his ear.

"I love you," he said.

_I won't be held responsible_

_She fell in love in the first place_

They hadn't spoken in months. He heard snippets through Nathan and Haley, who she kept in constant contact with, though Brooke was hardly speaking to him. He heard that she was happy, that he loved her job, that she heard new bands every day, and that she was tanned and freckled from all the California sun. But he wanted more. He wanted to know which of her smiles she wore when she listened to each of those new bands. He wanted to know what every minute of every day at her job was like. He wanted to know where each of those freckles were, what her tan lines looked like. He wanted her.

She wouldn't be coming home for Christmas. Her father was away as usual, and Haley informed Lucas that she didn't get enough time off for it to be worth it. They would be celebrating without her.

He had to excuse himself from the festivities for a moment, and he went and sat on the porch, thinking about all the other times he had spent sitting there and thinking of her. The list was long, and when he looked up and saw the mistletoe that Nathan had gleefully hung over the entrance to the house, he allowed himself to cry. She should have been there with him, kissing him under the mistletoe and keeping warm by drinking egg nog and snuggling with him by the fire. But she wasn't.

_For the life of me_

_I cannot remember_

_What made us think that we were wise_

_And we'd never compromise_

She called him on New Year's. He didn't even know it was her, because he had deleted her number from his phone, and after having quite a few drinks, he didn't recognize the area code.

"Hello?" he said.

"Happy New Year," she said, and her voice jolted him back into sobriety.

"Peyton?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to wish you well."

"Happy New Year to you, too," he said.

"How is everything?" she asked timidly.

"I can't do this, Peyton," he said.

"I can't even ask how you are?" she said.

"No," he said. "It hurts too much."

"You won't even let me try to make it feel better!" she said.

"I don't want you to," he replied. "I don't want to want you at all."

"I'm sorry I even called," she said bitterly.

"Don't call again," he said harshly, and he hung up.

He reached for another drink, and as he did, he noticed that that countdown had started. He also noticed that the pretty blonde who had been eyeing him all night had made her way over. He smiled at her, and she came even closer. When the ball dropped, he leaned in and kissed her.

Almost three hours later, when he woke up in her bed, he looked at her lying there and felt a guilt he had never experienced in his life. The clock on her bedside table flipped to three a.m, and Lucas realized that it was midnight where Peyton was. The new year had begun there as well. He wondered where she was, and if she was kissing anyone else, and suddenly he felt as though he could hardly breathe. He made it out of the apartment and into the back alley before he vomited.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this," he said out loud. "It was supposed to be everything but this."

_For the life of me_

_I cannot believe_

_We'd ever die for these sins_

_We were merely freshmen_


	2. Part Two

Part Two: How Did We Get From Saying I Love You...

_I knew something changed between us_

_All the talk we made was small_

_But what do you say to someone_

_When they've heard you say it all?_

She stood in front of her old house, the cab she had taken from the airport pulling away from the curb beside her. It looked exactly the same as it always had, and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. She had a lot of good memories from this house, but also a few that were not so good. She just felt numb. Coming home was supposed to make her feel better, but so far it hadn't done that at all.

"Peyton?" an incredulous voice said.

She turned around to see Nathan jogging towards her on the sidewalk, clearly in the middle of a workout, but with a huge smile on his face.

"Nate," she yelled, and ran straight into his arms, not caring that he was covered in sweat.

"What are you doing here, Sawyer?" he asked.

"I'm home," she said simply. "Hence the luggage."

"Yeah, I figured," he replied, "but why? You didn't tell us!"

"Why don't you come inside?" she suggested, and they crossed the street and entered her old house.

"We haven't seen you in four years and now you just show up out of the blue?" he inquired.

"I know, I'm a terrible friend," she admitted.

"Maybe a little," he teased. "What are you running from this time, Sawyer?"

"I think it's more of what I'm running towards," she said quietly. "I loved my job in L.A. These past years have been great. And they were so great that the label sent me here to open my own branch, just like I always wanted to."

"You're starting a label here?" he asked in surprise. "That's great!"

"I know," she said with a smile. "I've got so much planned and I'm so excited about all of it. The suits have been really good to me in general, surprisingly."

"But that's not all," Nathan commented perceptively.

"No," she admitted.

"I miss Lucas," she said softly. "I screwed us up pretty badly and it's been a long time. I don't know anything about his life other than what you tell me, but even if all we can be is friends, I want that for us."

"I don't think you and Lucas can ever just be friends," Nathan commented. "And speaking of the other Scott brother, I'm actually supposed to meet up with him. Fifteen minutes ago."

"You'd better go, then," she laughed.

"Do you want me to tell him you're here?" Nathan asked.

"If he asks, just say you ran into an old friend," Peyton replied. "I'll talk to him soon."

"Don't be a stranger, Peyton," Nathan said as he turned to leave. "Don't go leaving us again."

"I don't plan to," she said.

***

She had spent the rest of the day unpacking, getting her room arranged almost exactly the same way it had been when she was in high school. After being inside for so long, she figured she could use some air, and decided to go for a walk. It was getting dark, but she liked that time of day anyways. She wandered through the town, reacquainting herself with familiar sights and sounds. It was down by the high school that she ran into him. He had his back to her, heading towards the parking lot, but she knew him even from behind. He must have sensed someone behind him because he turned around, and the look on his face was one of complete shock.

"Hi, Luke," she said so softly that he barely heard her.

"Peyton," he breathed. He walked back towards her, and one of his hands rose as though he would touch her face, but then it dropped back down to his side.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, and his voice was colder than she had ever heard it.

"I moved back this morning," she said. "For good."

"I'm not sure that you moving back could in any way be for good," he said viciously, and she took a step back without meaning to.

"We moved on to hostility pretty quickly," she said with a nervous laugh.

"Yeah, well, that's what happens," he said, and turned away from her.

"Lucas!" she said after him. He didn't turn, but he stopped, and she knew he was listening.

"I'm not going anywhere," she said. "You're going to have to get used to it. I was hoping we could be friends, at least."

"I don't think so," he said, and he got in his car and drove away, leaving her standing on the sidewalk, tears rolling down her face.

_It's an awkward conversation_

_In a most peculiar way_

_How did we get from saying I love you_

_To I'll see you around someday?_

It wasn't hard to avoid him for the first few weeks. She was busy with the new label, finding an old warehouse to convert into an office and small recording studio, and he was busy with the start of a new school year and a new team of Ravens to coach. Nathan and Haley kept in touch, and she talked to Brooke on the phone every day, but she still missed him.

She had also learned from Haley that he had been seeing someone for almost two years after they had broken up, another blonde named Kate. Things hadn't ended well, in fact, Kate had broken up with him to chase after an older man. Peyton wondered how much of his anger was directed at her and how much was left over from that more recent blow to his heart. It didn't seem to matter, because he wouldn't have anything to do with her.

***

She had been home for a month when she got the call. Haley was sobbing and Peyton could barely understand what she was saying. All she heard was "Nathan" and "hospital", and Peyton immediately rushed out the door. She found Haley in the waiting room, sobbing onto Lucas' shoulder. He had tears running down his face as well, but when he saw her, he gently disentangled himself from Haley and stood up, leaving the two women alone.

"What happened?" Peyton asked quietly.

"A stupid fight," Haley replied through her tears. "But he went through a glass window and now it's lodged in his spinal cord. They don't know if he'll be able to walk again, and he definitely won't be able to play basketball."

"I'm so sorry," Peyton whispered, realizing that she had started to cry as well.

"Hey," Lucas said softly behind them. "He's asking for you, Haley."

The other woman stood up and practically ran towards the room Nathan was in, leaving Lucas and Peyton alone. He looked at her for a moment, before visibly suppressing a sigh and pulling her fiercely into his arms. They cried together, both knowing that someone that they loved was hearing his dreams shatter at that moment. Their past didn't even matter, because they were the only other people there who understood what it felt like to lose what you had always clung to in your darkest days. Neither one noticed that they had regained it in that moment, with their arms wrapped around each other in a hospital waiting room. For each of them, it had always been the other, and now it was again.

_Has all the ice been broken?_

_All our surfaces been scratched?_

_Have all the words been spoken?_

_Have we finally met our match?_


	3. Part Three

Part Three: I'll Take My Chances With You

_You and I, we've never had it easy baby_

_We've had to work so hard_

_Everytime it feels like we're gonna make it_

_That's when it falls apart_

After brief visits with Nathan, just long enough to assure him that they were thinking of him and that he would be as fine as could be expected, Lucas and Peyton left the hospital. Haley needed Nathan to herself, and he needed the reassurance and support that only his wife could provide. Though neither of them said it out loud, the two blondes were counting on each other for the same support.

"I don't want to go home," Peyton admitted as they stood outside the hospital.

"Me neither," Lucas said softly. "Why don't we just walk?"

"That sounds great," Peyton said, and refrained from commenting when he slipped his hand into hers. They strolled through their hometown, neither one speaking, both occupied with their own thoughts.

"That's the funny thing about tragedies," Lucas said suddenly. "They tend to put everything else in perspective."

"What do you mean?" Peyton asked.

"You," he said. "Me. Us. These past few years."

"I don't know what you mean."

"I mean, look at how fragile everything is," Lucas said passionately. "Nathan most likely just lost everything he's worked for over the past decade."

"No he hasn't," Peyton said. "He still has his family."

"I know," Lucas agreed. "And that's what I was going to say next. That's what really matters, isn't it?"

"Family?"

"Love. And support. And knowing that they'll always be around even when other things are taken away from you."

"Luke," she said quietly, afraid of where this might be going.

"I'm sorry," he said, stopping and turning to face her. "God, Peyton, I am so sorry."

"For what?" she asked. "For giving up on us? Or for being an ass when I tried to make the best of it?"

"For all of it," he said brokenly. "You'd think we'd have seen enough tragedy between the two of us to understand it before this, but there it is."

"I don't know what I had to understand," she said bitterly. "I always knew you were the most important thing."

"Which only makes my lack of belief worse by comparison," he said.

"Yeah," she agreed. "And your apology is long overdue."

"I'm sorry for that too," he said, and despite her efforts not to, Peyton had to smile at that.

Without realizing it, they had arrived at the River Court. They sat in the bleachers, and Peyton snuggled into his side as he slid his arm around her shoulders.

"I'm sorry too," she said after a few moments.

"Peyton, you have nothing to apologize for," he told her.

"Maybe not," she said. "But I probably could have tried harder. Fought longer. Quit my job and come back here sooner."

"And then you would have resented me for it later," he said. "I don't blame you. You made the right choice. I was just too hurt to see it at the time."

"But I'm back now," she said, a slight tone of hesitance in her voice.

"Yes," Lucas said. "You are."

He kissed her then, under the stars, and the sensation was so familiar and so right that Peyton felt as though she had been holding her breath, waiting for this moment for years. She kissed him back with love and desperation, telling him without words that she still needed him, still wanted him, still loved him, and he responded in kind.

"I love you," he whispered as they broke apart.

"I never stopped loving you," she told him, meeting his eyes.

"Shall we give this another try?" he asked.

"Us? Or the kissing?" she asked, a gentle laugh in her voice.

"Both," he said, loving her humour at a moment like this.

"Yes, to both," she said, drawing his lips back to hers again.

_But I'll take my chances with you_

_Yeah, I'll take my chances with you_

Nathan slowly got better. With the help of his friends and family, he made it out of his wheelchair and back onto the basketball court. After one bitter night when he consulted the alcohol cabinet rather than a supportive ear, he and Lucas had a conversation about what really mattered, and the younger Scott brother apologized for that moment of weakness and didn't slip again.

Peyton and Lucas were happy. Her newly created label was searching out local talent and showcasing it at Tric. Lucas was working on another novel. One day, six months after Nathan's accident, she got a text message from Lucas, asking her to pick him up at the spot by the river where they had first spoken. Confused but eager to see him as always, she went.

"Hey," she said as she got out of her car and approached him where he leaned against the hood of his own vehicle.

"Hey, yourself," he said, greeting her with a kiss.

"Car break down?" she asked.

"No," he said mischievously. "I just wanted to see if you would drop everything to come to my rescue."

"I can't believe you!" she exclaimed.

"Because you know that I would do the same for you," he said seriously.

"I know," she said. "You've proved that to me over and over again."

"There is something I need help with, though," he said.

"Anything," she replied.

To her surprise, he got down on one knee and pulled out a small black velvet box.

"I need you to try this on, to make sure it fits," he said. Nestled inside the box was a ring that Peyton immediately recognized as the one Keith had given to Karen.

"Lucas," she said, shocked but overjoyed at the sight of it.

"Peyton Sawyer, it's always going to be there between you and me. Will you marry me?" he asked.

"Yes," she said. "Yes, baby, yes!"

He slid the ring onto her finger and picked her up, setting her down on the hood of his car and kissing her gently. Her hand snuck up his back and Peyton looked at the ring on her finger over his shoulder.

"It fits perfectly," she whispered against his ear.

"I knew it would," he replied.

"You're kinda perfect too, you know," she said.

"I know," he said. "So are you."

"This is good," she said. "You and me. Us."

"It's perfect," he said.

And it was.


End file.
